‘Our families are falling apart’: relatives of Nova festival victims urge government to help

‘They brought me a body in a sack, as if I were burying a cat. I want to know how he died.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Survivors of the Hamas massacre at the Nova music festival on October 7th spoke with government ministers and expressed that they feel they have been neglected and abandoned by the government.

In a meeting with the National Security committee, Hadar Golan, the mother of Ariel Biton who was murdered at the festival said, “They brought me a body in a sack, as if I were burying a cat. I want to know how he died.”

“I don’t refer to it as a Nova disaster, but rather a Nova failure,” said Golan.

“The first failure was that the party was approved by the army and the police. The second failure was that they were left to perish in this manner, without knowing why they died or whom they had reached out to for help,” she added.

Golan explained the desperate situations survivors and their families are facing, “People are taking their own lives, and I feel like I’m heading down that path.”

She added, “I can’t function anymore. I’ve been hospitalized, and each day becomes increasingly challenging.”

“I still have one daughter remaining, and she is scheduled to enlist in the army in a week. I don’t want her to go. I don’t want her to give herself to a country that has abandoned us,” Hadar Golan explained.

Hila Abir, the sister of Lotan Abir who was also a victim at the Nova festival said, “For seven hours, they were trapped in the shelter, being shot at.”

She added, “We searched for him for four days until the head of the council came to our door. We are struggling to comprehend why, even now, there is no one in the country taking care of the families. Why is nothing being done? Our families are falling apart.”

Abir explained that some spouses aren’t recognized by the state and can’t receive assistance, whereas others are over 18 and are denied benefits because they are no longer minors, “We are receiving some assistance, but it is insufficient.”

Amit Lior, relative of terror victim Mordechai Lior described the plight of survivors, “Every day that goes by, there is another Nova survivor who can’t get out of bed, who wakes up every morning or can’t sleep at night because of nightmares.”

Liron Hess, the deputy of operations at the Prime Minister’s Office, admitted there were gaps in the current system for supporting survivors and their families and said the government will provide increase support for bereaved families after fully assessing their needs.